I am feeling SO happy about modems at the moment! Particularly the one in this photo.

Many Tanzanians have spent long hours helping me find a modem that would work with the Linux-based Powering Potential computers.

Today we crossed the finish line 🙂 and I am a happy camper!

Mtituh, Chief Manager Hardware & Data Communications at Tanzania Postal Bank, has been generously offering his advice. I met him months ago on ethinktanktz.org, an online forum for Tanzanian technology professionals (I was invited to join). Last week he asked me to come to his office so he could demonstrate a solution. I have a laptop similar to the Powering Potential computers so we could test the solution. He plugged a Zain modem (Internet router actually) into my laptop and bingo it WORKED! no configuration, no frustration, it just worked….truly plug and play….I was off and running around the Internet.

As soon as I left his office I went to the Zain shop to buy one; I tested it again in their shop and bingo it WORKED again. My spirits are starting to soar…two tests, two successes. However I didn’t have enough money to pay for it – having my ATM cards stolen has put a crimp in my financial flexibility so I couldn’t go to an ATM to get the money. My sister sent me money through Western Union and today I bought the modem. I had tested it twice so I didn’t bring my computer with me (always a risk of it being stolen) to test the modem a third time; I just bought it, came home, plugged it in and bingo, it DIDN’T work!

OK…I thought…I KNOW this thing works. So I went to the Zain headquarters to visit my new best friend Jean Paul, Zain’s technical guru, and he figured it out (he’s been helping me with many of my Tanzanian communication problems 🙂 The problem was that the SIM card wasn’t configured to accept Internet data….just voice and SMS. He reconfigured the card and I’m experiencing the Joys of Technology again!

This modem/router works with Ethernet and USB cables and wirelessly. My original reason for wanting a modem was to get online with my own computer and not be dependent on undependable hotel and Internet cafe services. With my own modem I can compute to my heart’s content while in Tanzania. And now that I have a working modem we can try it at the schools to determine it’s viability for use there.

Happy Days are here again!

When I was searching for a place to stay in Dar es Salaam I depended on the Lonely Planet guidebook. The Q Bar and Guest House: “Huge, spotless mid-range rooms. Food is served downstairs and there’s also a popular bar with live music on Friday evening.” It’s going to be noisy I said to myself…I checked out their website and emailed back and forth…was reassured that they had quiet rooms on the top floors in the back…$55/night. OK….I knew it was in a safe, pleasant neighborhood so I booked it.

When I got there at midnight on Tuesday night…it looked nothing like their website…oh well….the room was big and spotless. The next night…the bar was full of people….and the women were dressed like no other women I’ve ever seen before in Tanzania…..my first thought: “I guess this is the way Tanzanian women dress in the big city” then I quickly realized…. noooo….they were dressed that way to improve their economic prospects 🙂

I was focused on meetings at the Embassy, the Ministry of Education, with Accenture, NGOs, company CEOs, technicians, etc. too busy to even think about trying to find another place to stay. Ohhh and by the way…the music was not just Fridays, also Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. And to top it off…the rooms in the back which were supposed to be quiet were facing the newly opened Maisha Club….a nightclub with blaring music until 5am except Mondays and Tuesdays.

I met some interesting people there….an American who owns mines in the Congo, China and other places around the world…an Australian who explores for oil in Mogadishu, has a home in Tanzania and lives in Thailand…two medical students from Holland. There were upsides to the situation I found myself in and the laundry was free 🙂 Some of these people had stayed at the Q Bar many times over the years. I asked around, “Have you ever had anything stolen?” No was the answer….the noise was getting to me though and the Ladies of the Night were making friends with me.

I started asking around for other places in the area to stay. Then on Sunday, Hilda, another Q Bar guest had money stolen from her room. I stepped up my efforts to find another place. And yesterday evening as Lance (the Australian) and I were walking to the Italian restaurant three blocks away, a car drove up beside us and suddenly the shoulder strap on my purse was cut and it was being pulled away…a tug of war ensued and I lost. Gone…my cellphone, three credit cards, two ATM cards, my favorite purse, but only $35. My passport and the rest of my cash were safely hidden away.

So….I’ve moved. I’m paying more than twice what I was at the Q Bar and I feel infinitely more safe and comfortable.

The other day I met with an economist from the Department of Policy and Planning at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. I was referred to him by the First Secretary of the Tanzanian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. After a short talk with this economist he introduced me to the head of Monitoring and Evaluation…had a long, very interesting conversation with him. He gave me a booklet of Tanzania’s Technology Education Policy and asked me to return to meet with the Director of Policy and Planning and possibly the Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry. He recommended that Powering Potential concentrate our work for now in one District, which would be Karatu. He also recommended meeting the local education government officials and suggested I look into working at a particular school of interest to him. Albin, Powering Potential’s person in Tanzania, explained the local education government structure to me and his father works in education in the Karatu district so he is going to get me the names of these local officials.

Tanzania is very eager to get technology into their schools and they seem very grateful for all that we are doing. I want Powering Potential to work in harmony with the Ministry of Education. Stay tuned….

Sept. 1, 11pm
Last evening Albin and I met with Mtituh. He is an experienced network technician here in Dar es Salaam and was telling me about various Internet possibilities in Tanzania (CDMA, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, GPRS, EVDO) “Albin are you understanding this?” “No.” Am I? Somewhat. It’s not the first time I’ve heard these acronyms but this is where the Carry On part of my “Be Calm and Carry On” strategy is put it play 🙂 Zain, Zantel, TTCL, Sastel, Vodacom…OK….Carry On….
After two hours of discussing options, he called a colleague, a former employee of TTCL, who confirmed that TTCL (Tanzanian Telephone Company Limited) had a high speed modem (EVDO) which would give us speeds of 512kbps in Karatu which is much faster than what we will be getting with the satellite dish (128kbps). “This is worth checking out,” I said to myself. “This would be a MUCH better solution….faster and less expensive than the satellite connection.”

So as he suggested, I went to the TTCL office in the Sayansi area. Spoke to an account executive who talked to two different TTCL engineers and she confirmed for me that Yes the EVDO modem did work with the Linux operating system, which is what we have at Banjika, but that No we wouldn’t get speeds of 512kbps. Hmmm…..conflicting information…who to trust??? The great dilemma of life.

Technology is an exciting field to be in (at least that is one way of thinking about it) because things are always changing. What was true last week may not be true next week. What was applicable yesterday may not be viable tomorrow.

The only way to know for sure is to test it yourself. “I’m going to buy the modem and test it out.” I had a Linux netbook so I asked if I could test the modem before buying it. “No.” then “Just wait here for a moment.”

At this point, I’ve been in the TTCL office for 2 hours …an exercise in patience. The final word was No I couldn’t test it before I bought it and if I bought it and it didn’t work, MAYBE I could return it. OK…I bought it.. $66.

“It’s easy…it is plug and play.” Well I plugged it in and it didn’t play…surprise surprise. After another hour with Mr. Elaise trying to get it to work and three phone calls with Abdul, another TTCL engineer…I was requested to bring my netbook and the modem to the TTCL CITY office where Abdul was so he could fix it hands-on. OK. If you like traffic jams you’ll LOVE Dar es Salaam. It’s now 4pm and I knew the traffic going into the city wouldn’t be bad so I take a Bajaj (mini-taxi) down to the city centre. I find the TTCL office and then Abdul. Guess what…he couldn’t get it to work either. I’ve now spent four hours on this project. “OK…I’ll just take my money back.” “Hamnashida (no problem) but you have to go back to the Sayansi office to get your money back…our office here is already closed.” Then it dawned on me that I now needed to head OUT of the city during the height of rush hour.

How have I lasted 23 years in the technology business??? This story is about the frustrations of technology…not necessarily about the frustrations of technology in Tanzania although here there is an added spice 🙂 but everyone has been more than willing to help me find practical solutions.

I am still going to follow every lead in the hope of finding a faster, less expensive alternative to satellite for Internet access in the rural areas. Am I tilting at windmills?

We didn’t have electricity for a few days so I was unable to get online.

Took a long, hot, dusty, crowded ride in a dalla dalla (local bus) out to Ubungo to meet with the head of Ensol, a solar company with a branch in Karatu near Banjika. We worked out the specs for expanding the solar energy system. Albin, Powering Potential’s point person in Tanzania came with me.

I met with SimbaNet, our satellite Internet provider. We worked out the details of the installation which is happening Sept. 18.

Also met with two Tanzanian Linux computer technicians. They are available to help with the computer installation at the Noonkodin school. I’m working out the best option for local technical help.

Two blocks from where I am staying is an NGO specializing in solar energy. I had a very useful meeting with the head of that NGO (solar-aid.org). He gave me some good solar training materials and I have a much better understanding now of how to ensure the long life of the solar energy system at Banjika. I got a lot of very useful information from him.

Also met with another Tanzanian computer network engineer who is very knowledgeable about the various technology options here in Tanzania. I had met him online months ago (ethinktanktz.org) when I was researching Internet options for Banjika.

I met with the head of Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow, which is Accenture’s ADP project to increase education in Tanzania. He took me to lunch at the Sea Cliff hotel and it is aptly named. A luxury hotel on the tip of the Msasani Peninsula with high cliffs and crashing waves; I felt like a character in Wuthering Heights. It was so windy, as I poured milk into my tea it splattered across the table.

Because of the electrical outage, we didn’t have any water in the morning for a few days. Fortunately I had bottled water (for drinking) so I was able to brush my teeth and wash my face. The water and electricity are both back on. These are some of the fun things one gets to deal with in Tanzania 🙂 I love it!

Since I’ve been in Tanzania, we have received two more contributions, $750 and $5,000. And shortly before I left New York we received a $5,000 grant from the Oswald Family Foundation. I’m deeply touched by all of the support which is being given to Powering Potential.

The US Embassy is about a 10 minute car ride from my lodgings. I went by there today just to make sure I knew where I was going tomorrow. I spoke to a contact at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and we are going to try and meet on Friday. Also will be meeting on Friday with our sales rep from SimbaNet, the company we bought the satellite dish from. Spoke to the guy from Accenture…we have plans to meet Thursday evening. Albin Mathias, Powering Potential’s point person in Tanzania is coming over today at 5pm to meet with me. He’s going to college in Dar…getting a Bachelor of Engineering in Network Design and System Integration.

More later….

Just arrived at my lodgings in Dar es Salaam, the Q Bar and Guest House (it’s not what I imagined from their website 🙂 room is nice though, clean and big…….it’s midnight here….after 17 hours of flying and 4 hours of layovers…I’m tired…am going to bed.

Well the “Be Calm” part of my strategy has already been put to the test 🙂

There was an accident on the way to the airport….traffic was held up for an hour…I got to the terminal one hour before the flight instead of two….I had to ask people to let me go to the front of the security line in order to make my plane….ahhhh…nothing like rushing through an airport to catch an international flight…I just kept repeating….be calm….be calm….be calm…

I’m at the airport in Amsterdam…it’s 9am here…the plane to Dar es Salaam leaves in 2 hours.

That’s my motto for this trip 🙂

Well…my bags are packed and I’m ready to go… as the song sings…My flight leaves today (Monday 8/23) at 6:30pm EDT and arrives in Dar es Salaam at 10:30pm Tuesday evening.

Thursday is my meeting with the Community Grants Manager at the US Embassy.

I’ll be in touch….stay tuned.

Janice

Hello again from Peaceful Tanzania,

Thank you all for your emails. I love hearing from you. I will definitely pass along all of your greetings to our mutual friends here in Tanzania.

In two hours I will be on my way to Karatu. Bayo (another beloved safari guide) is picking me up and taking me there.

My friends here are very interested in the American presidential race. They love Obama (his father was Kenyan) and are also impressed that a woman is being seriously considered for President of the United States. News here is that President Bush is visiting Tanzania this month.

From what I have heard the violence from Kenya is only affecting Tanzania in that Kenyans who have relatives in Tanzania are coming here to stay with their relatives.

I have been spending a lot of time (every day) at the cell phone company (Celtel). I want to provide internet access to the teachers at Banjika so they can email and I need to buy a modem for that purpose. There is a Celtel technician in Karatu and he has been asked by the office in Arusha to go to the school to test the strength of the internet signal. I don’t want to spend $168 on a modem if the cell signal is too weak to transmit internet data.

The technician’s car broke down; today he told me his car has finally been fixed and he will go to the school this afternoon. Unfortunately the Celtel office is closed today (Sunday) so I made arrangements with the computer technician who is installing the computers to pick up the modem Monday morning on his way to Karatu…assuming the cell signal is strong enough…if indeed the car gets fixed and if indeed the technician makes it to the school. What fun working out all of these details!

I must sign off now….more later.

Amani,
(Peace)

Janice